Jack Channon is considering several high-profile races for Sarab Star following his promising debut win at Leicester last week.
The Zoustar colt was the odds-on favourite for his first race and, despite displaying some greenness, he rallied strongly in the final stages to win by a narrow margin.
Channon was not surprised by the victory and plans to elevate Sarab Star’s ambitions before the end of the season.
Sarab Star is entered for the Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury, as well as the Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes and the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket.
Channon remarked, "He’s always been a nice horse. I’m not sure why he was such a short price, as I wouldn’t have backed him at that odds, but he delivered as expected. He’s a big horse and, as anticipated, was a bit green, but he showed his class to get the win in the end. He seems to have come out of the race well, and we’re optimistic about his progress. However, I believe he’ll be even better next year."
Regarding potential Group-race entries, Channon added, "We might consider those options. He’ll need to show more before stepping up to those big races, but the entry deadlines come early. There are often horses entered who may not be ready, and we might be among them, but if you’re not in the entries, you can’t get in later unless you’re prepared to spend a lot on supplements. We’ll have to make decisions early."
Sarab Star races in the familiar colours of prominent owner Jaber Abdullah, for whom Channon’s father, Mick, trained several top horses, including the unbeaten Queen’s Logic and three-time Arc runner-up Youmzain.
Channon concluded, "I haven’t discussed it with Jaber yet, but we have the Mill Reef Stakes coming up in a couple of weeks if we want to aim higher, or we could opt for another novice race. All options are open. It’s fantastic to have Jaber’s colours back in the yard, and hopefully, we have a good one to run in them."